The Best of Our Knowledge # 852

Albany, NY – DAILY LESSONS: INSIDE WESTERN GUILFORD HIGH SCHOOLDOCUMENTARY SERIESPT. 1 WELCOME TO WESTERN GUILFORD -The birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., often called Martin Luther King Day,is a United States holiday. It marks the birth date of Reverend Dr. MartinLuther King, Jr., and is always observed on the third Monday of Januaryeach year...which this year...just happens to be his actual birthday. It's theonly U.S. federal holiday commemorating an African American, and one ofonly four to remember an individual person. In 1983, President Reagansigned the bill creating the federal holiday to honor Dr. King. The holidaywas first observed in 1986. It took 14 more years, until the year 2000,before MLK Day was officially observed in all 50 states. And it wasn'tuntil just last year, that Greenville County in South Carolina finally becamethe last county to adopt MLK Day as a paid holiday. Our story takes placenot far from that location. Daily Lessons: Inside Western Guilford HighSchool is a ten-part documentary series about a public high school in Greensboro, North Carolina. A team of four reporters spent six months at the school recording how a typical high school deals with some of today's daunting realities. Many of these are the same issues that challengeschools all across North America. Part one, called Welcome to Western Guilford , focuses on the pressures of growth, economic and racial change,and high stakes testing. Reporter, Deborah George, introduces us to thepeople and the sounds of the school, and the problems faced by theschool, students, and community.Deborah George reports. (8:13)

ENOUGH: THE PHONY LEADERS, DEAD-END MOVEMENTS,AND CULTURE OF FAILURE THAT ARE UNDERMINING BLACKAMERICA - - AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT -And speaking as we were in our first story about this being MartinLuther King Day, this marks the 21st Anniversary of the federal holiday.Americans across the country are asked to celebrate it...not by takinga day off...but by making it a day of service...to honor the life and workof Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Juan Williams writes that half a centuryafter Americans took to the streets to raise the bar of opportunity for allraces, too many black Americans are in crisis, caught in a twisted hip-hop culture, dropping out of school, and falling to the bottom in the 21st centuryglobal economic competition. Williams complains that nearly forty yearsafter Reverend King's death, the best black talent don't have civil right's leadership as their chief ambition. Juan Williams is a Senior Correspondentfor National Public Radio, and is a frequent contributor to numeroustelevision programs. TBOOK talks with him about his latest book withthe long title, Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements,And Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America - - AndWhat We Can Do About It.Glenn Busby reports. (9:33)

**(Attention Program Directors. The web address given at the conclusionof the above story, for those listeners who may be interested in learningmore about Martin Luther King day, is: www.mlkday.gov)**